Celebrating the Fourth of July

New York City’s Independence Day parade in 1918 saw 75,000 marchers. Among them were groups and floats representing 34 immigrant nationalities. At the head of the parade behind a platoon of mounted policemen were four women. Each had given six sons for the cause of justice. Their boys were fighting in the U.S. Armed Forces in France. A year earlier in April, the United States had entered World War I. President Woodrow Wilson had asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany, and before long, U.S. men were being deployed to Europe as part of the American Expeditionary Forces.Because of the war, Independence Day celebrations nearly didn’t happen. U.S. Rep. Albert Johnson from Washington had suggested to Wilson that Fourth of July celebrations be cancelled. But the president stressed the importance of celebrations taking place “this year of all years.” American involvement in the “war to end all wars” informed his Independence Day address at Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, one of the nation’s founding fathers and first president. “A great promise that was meant for all mankind was here given plan and reality,” Wilson said. “From this green hillside, we also ought to be able to see with comprehending eyes the world that lies about us and should conceive anew the purposes that set men free … It is our inestimable privilege to concert with men of every nation what shall make not only the liberties of America secure but the liberties of every other people as well.” He spoke of the longing of thinking peoples of the world “for justice and for social freedom and opportunity.”It is those principles articulated by Wilson 99 years ago and enshrined in our founding documents that we celebrate next Tuesday, America’s 241st anniversary. People from many times 34 other nations have embraced those principles and made the U.S. their home. We celebrate that, too. Kansas City observes Independence Day wholeheartedly. More than a dozen metro area communities are hosting extravagant fireworks displays, many with music and entertainment, and admission is free. Celebrating the occasion enthusiastically doesn’t have to break the bank or jeopardize safety.Have an enjoyable Fourth of July honoring the principles on which this country was founded and celebrating the many peoples from around the globe who’ve come here drawn by those ideals.